Russia is competing against Bulgaria and Albania for two Eastern European seats. (File)
Geneva:
Russia is seeking re-election next week as a member of the United Nations’ top human rights body, in what is seen as a crucial test of Western efforts to keep Moscow diplomatically isolated during its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Amid creeping signs of “war fatigue” in Ukraine, some diplomats say Russia has a reasonable chance of being voted back into the U.N. Human Rights Council in Tuesday’s secret vote, 18 months after the country was expelled in a U.N.-led move dropped off.
“I think there is a Ukrainian fatigue. And secondly, many people do not want UN bodies to be dominated by Western voices, not to mention an overbearing attitude,” a senior Asian diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity .
Critics of Russia say his re-election, while the nearly 20-month war in Ukraine continues unabated, would destroy the credibility of the Geneva-based council, one of the more effective U.N. bodies.
But Moscow is actively trying to recruit the votes of African, Asian and other non-Western countries to the 193-member UN General Assembly by attacking the hypocrisy and unfair prejudices of the United States and its allies.
“The Human Rights Council must be protected from misuse as a tool to settle political scores and from the practice of double standards,” Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, said on Thursday.
“That is the tactic of certain states … who declare themselves champions of human rights,” he said at a subdued diplomatic reception at Russia’s UN mission in New York, in an apparent swipe at Western countries.
Vassily Nebenzia spoke just hours after a rocket attack in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region killed at least 52 people. Ukrainian and UN officials blamed Russia. Moscow has made no comment but denies deliberately targeting civilians.
Russia can be ‘fizzle’
Russia is competing against Bulgaria and Albania for two Eastern European seats. The successful candidates each need a majority – at least 97 votes – to win a three-year term starting January 1.
“There is a chance that UN members who do not want to openly support Russia will help Moscow this time,” said Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group.
But Western countries are known for being able to figure out how states vote, he added, “so I think the Russian bid could still fail.”
The General Assembly has overwhelmingly denounced Russia’s war in Ukraine several times, and Moscow has struggled to win several UN elections.
The General Assembly gathered the required two-thirds majority to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council in April last year – almost halfway through its three-year term and shortly after Ukraine retook the city of Bucha and accused Moscow of widespread atrocities. Russia denied the accusation.
The council has no legally binding powers, but its meetings provide oversight and can order investigations to document abuses that have sometimes formed the basis for war crimes prosecutions.
‘farcical’
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly described Moscow’s re-election bid as “a farce.” The Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Yevheniia Filipenko, called it “incomprehensible and absurd.”
While countries with questionable rights records have been elected in the past, observers say never in the council’s 17-year history has a state as widely accused of egregious crimes as Russia been given the right to vote.
Western countries also note that Russian President Vladimir Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges in Ukraine.
“It would be disastrous for the council’s credibility, of course, but also for the UN’s credibility in the eyes of people – especially victims – around the world,” said Marc Limon, executive director of the Universal Rights Group.
Last March, the council opened an investigation into the war in Ukraine and accused the Russian armed forces of violations that could constitute crimes against humanity. It has also appointed an investigator to look into Moscow’s domestic rights record.
Russia denies the accusations.
Unlike the UN Security Council in New York, where Russia is one of five permanent members with veto power, none of the 47 members of the Rights Council have a veto. But the voting margins for launching politically sensitive investigations are shrinking.
“I see no reason why Russia should not be on the council,” a senior African diplomat told Reuters. “Maybe the war in Ukraine, but Russia still needs to be considered. It contributed a lot.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
